6 Year Old in Pain - BM Question *Tmi*

It's so miserable to be backed up, and she needs some help right now. Go to the drug store and buy some Fleet enemas. Use vaseline on the tip, lay her in the floor of the bathroom and give her one of the enemas. Have her hold it as long as she can stand within the directions, then have her sit on the toilet without pushing until she absolutely HAS to. It will get some of it out, and maybe all of it, if the pieces aren't too big (so sorry that this is so graphic.) If she can't get it all out, tomorrow, try the other enema that comes in the box.

Now, every afternoon after she gets home from school, give her 3 bite sized prunes. No more than that until she gets used to them. Have her eat foods that have a lot of fiber in them - google her favorite foods and see how much fiber is in them - I 'll bet what she eats has very little fiber.

You need to incorporate ingredients into her food that has fiber in it. And she needs to drink a lot of water to make the fiber work. WIthout the water, the fiber isn't going to help her bowels.

You can go to a specialist (pediatric gastroenterologist), but it takes a while to get an appointment. You need to help her now. Enemas should ONLY be used once in a blue moon, but if you start putting some real changes in her eating habits, she might stop going through this sooner rather than later.

Good luck!
Dawn

She needs to eat foods that have fiber in it such as prunes, apples, oranges, lettuce, broccoli, spinach, beans and whole grains. She also needs to get in the habit of drinking plenty of water. Eat dairy foods only in moderation as this can cause constipation if too much is eaten without the balance of fiber. Junk food or greasy, high fat foods can also cause constipation, so again only eat in moderation or avoid as much as possible. All of these things together should help her have normal bowel movements without fear of giving her runny stools or resorting to OTC remedies like laxatives. Hopefully it will help ease her phobia about relieving herself.
HTH,
A.

Time... to take her to the Doctor.
A Pediatric Gastroenterologist.

Constipation... can create a lot of medical problems.
Encopresis for one thing.
And bulging/distended bowels.
Impaction.
Stomach pain.
And they can get blocked up.
And of course, the more she 'withholds' it... the worse it will get.

Do not... give her laxatives or over the counter things, without speaking to a Doctor.

Sometimes they need to x-ray the child, to see how blocked up the internal organs are.
And the more she holds it in... the harder... the poop gets. Internally. And the more pain.... she will get. Internally and when it comes out.

This is ALSO... an EMOTION based problem.
For which, you might consider getting her a Therapist.

Or, give her some Prune, juice. Or prunes.

You NEED, to take her to the Doctor.

If you don't give her a laxative with the symptoms you describe, you run the risk of a whole host of very serious conditions including but not limited to prolapse, impaction or another problem called encopresis to occur. Left untreated she can have worse problems than dependence on laxatives or an embarrasing moment out in public.

**Right now**, it sounds like she needs to be seen by a doctor as soon as possible. I'd take her in tonight. She probably will need to take a day or two off if her constipation is as bad as you say. Depending on what they find, they'll more than likely give her an enema or something to get things moving again. In more serious situations they may recommend x-rays/ultrasound and even surgery.

If this isn't too serious, they'll probably prescribe or suggest an over the counter laxative to use for the next few weeks until her body gets regular again, and they'll probably recommend she drinks more water, to prevent future constipation. Water is very important in constipation prevention. They'll also probably recommend more fiber to make bulk. And you'll need to get her to "make the time" to sit on the potty a couple of times a day...before and after school, once she gets over this current bout of constipation.

For now, definitely see her doctor tonight if she hasn't had a bowel movement in the last 3 days, has been vomitting, has a fever, bloating, or bleeding, and/or is also complaining of serious abdominal pain. More than likely, the doctor will prescribe an enema and/or Miralax to get things moving. Once she's no longer blocked, they're going to make diet change recommendations and insist she ups her water intake. In some cases they may run tests to see if a food allergy is the cause.

Read up on the following:

http://www.uptodate.com/contents/patient-information-cons...

http://www.healthhype.com/constipation-complications.html

http://www.medicinenet.com/encopresis/article.htm

You're received some excellent advice here, but the bottom line is that this is a serious condition and you need to have your daughter see her pediatrician and be referred to a pediatric gastroenterologist for treatment if necessary. Hard poops even every other day are considered constipation and serious. Encopresis can be a very serious problem, the large poops are stretching out her colon and can cause a tear in the skin around her anus.

God bless.

I took my son to the doctor (a specialist) over this issue. Same symptoms! I had him on a VERY high fiber diet, didnt help. Its so sad to see them in so much pain! The Dr. said it can cause real problems! I'd have her checked to make sure she is physically healthy. The doctor suggested Metamucil Clear and Natural, which I liked, no chemicals, very natural! He used it for a few weeks. It never caused him to have runny issues, he still doesn't go at school but it got him out of the habit of going too many days in between.

I used to do that when I was a little girl, I did it from age four till about age 10. It was miserable, but you are just too scared to go because it hurts.
Once someone in the family finally had an aha moment, I was given enemas for a few days in a row, and that straightened me right out.
I had a few enemas at the ER when my mom would get really scared since my stomach was HUGE, then finally my grandmother decided to take me to her place for a couple of weeks and she fixed me up for good. I know I had an emergency room enema at your daughters age, it was scary but I behaved and did what they told me to do, I can still remember it.
You might try to do part of a fleet enema on her. Talk to her about it first and make sure you get her to relax and you will want her to hold that water in for as long as possible so it will soften her stool and make the exit really easy.
Not sure if your daughter is a candidate for it, but I think it would help.
You probably should talk to your pediatrician about it and see what they say. It's very common.
I totally get that you dont want her to have an accident at school. I would also suggest you crush some magnesium, maybe 250mg, and put it in a smoothie and have her drink it when she comes home from school. Her bowels will want to move either that night or in the morning. You might try that on a Friday when there is no school the next day.
She'll get better eventually, I think it's psychological, and you just get addicted to holding it in. It's not fun tho and she will love it when she is free from it.

Miralax should help keep the stools softer without making them too loose. It's not actually a laxative, it just helps hold water in the stool as it passes through the body. The more natural way to do it would be to increase the amount of fruit and vegetable fiber she eats, and get her to drink more water during the day. But if this is a pattern that has gone on for awhile, it might be that she constipates easily, and diet changes may not be quite enough to make the whole thing easier.

A very large, hard stool can give her internal tears, which are extremely painful. (I know this from first-hand experience.) Even having emergency trips to the bathroom at school would probably be less disruptive, and you might want to send a note to her teacher to ask that she be allowed to leave class immediately, just in case.

I would also talk this over with her pediatrician right away. He/she may recommend using a glycerine suppository to prompt a bowel movement and give some lubrication that might make it easier. I think she'd eventually normalize if you can get more frequent and softer poops.

There's also a book that I've heard is helpful, called 'It Hurts When I Poop."

My 6 year old son has the same problem. He has never gone in the toilet (he has high functioning autism, though). I give him Miralax daily. There are never any "runny" issues at all. He is still constipated despite the Miralax and the fact that we feed him figs, prunes, raisins, etc...

Miralax is over the counter, and also won't cause cramping. We give him about a teaspoon a day.

Oh, and while I agree that it is a serious issue and you should talk to your doctor, DON'T do an enema or suppositories. It's the worst thing you can do to a child who is already experiencing anxiety about pooping.

Hi H. Beth,

In order to be, and stay, healthy she needs to be going about an hour after EVERY meal. Holding it and only having two movements a week can lead to all sorts of dangerous issues. Saying that, slippery elm bark will balance so that she will not be constipated or have diareah and really shouldnt have any pain either. Since she's been holding it, she may be impacted in areas but this should relieve it. It may be touch and go for about a week trying to get all of it out but it has to come out. If there is too much in her digestive system, then NO nutrition can absorb into her body.

Slippery elm is a good, long term fix. You may want to use something like magnesium citrate when she gets home from school on Friday and clean her out over the weekend. It's not good to use long term but it's fairly safe short term and will definitely get things going quickly. It also won't linger into the next week when she is in school.

Hope this helps. Reassure her as well. I grew up with issues like this and she'll thank you VERY soon!

God bless,
M.

I know this will sound funny but my husband played music and would dance with them. They would go potty right away after that. The movement makes some "other things" move too. We now joke with them (ages 16 and 18) that they each had their own potty song. It would work all the time. They got used to it. I can't wait for the day that my husband embarrasses them in front of thie spouses.

Miralax would be my first step. My 4 year old has had a ton of constipation issues and we give her miralax daily. She has her 4 year check up on Monday where I hope they can shed some more light on the issue. She was crying for hours today b/c she was in so much pain until she finally passed a bm. Poor baby! I can't wait to see what the doc has to say.

i know you don't want to use a laxative.... but maybe try it over the weekend.
Also... my son has issues with constapation and it took a long time time to get to the runny issues you are worried about.
Now we use fiber and a probiotic to help keep him regular

I agree with Grandma T - it's probably anxiety. In addition to all the suggestions below, since she is scared but needs to poop, I suggest a little bribery. Bribery has its uses.

Offer her something she really wants in exchange for pooping. Make it something she can't resist. Then, once she sees pooping isn't so bad, she should hopefully get over it.

My daughter had problems with constipation when she was a toddler. What got her on track was Pedialax and Benefiber daily until she was going on her own pretty much daily. It took a couple of months of the medicines to get everything on track. I also had to give her glycerine enemas (there is a brand for kids 2-6) several times she was uncomfortable and straining to poop. A few minutes discomfort with the enema is better than hours or days in my opinion.

I'd take her to the doctor or at least call to get a recommendation for an OTC stool softener.

Our boy has gone back and forth with this very same issue. We tried diet change, miralax (per our Dr.), extra fiber... We got a really good book he still likes to read called 'It Hurts When I Poop' -got it on amazon. That helped some, made him realize sometimes that happens... What has finally, finally worked is having him sit on the potty right before his bath EVERY day. So far he has been going pretty easily for several months now. Though, I have to say, we've thought we were in the clear before too!
Good luck! This is such an agrivating problem. Wish there was some way to make them understand if they would just go, they would feel better :)